Stocking/plant ideas for 10g

[juliejanu]

Hello! I currently have a male betta in a 4g tank, but I'm planning on upgrading to a 40L tank (about 10,5g) in a couple months and could use some stocking and plant ideas.

I thought about maybe pygmy cory and some kind of shrimp, but I'm new to the aquarium hobby so I could use some help! Also wanted some easy low tech plants.

The only thing is that my betta is a dragonscale and has diamond eye so he can't see that well, I don't know if that would be a problem with having tank mates. What do you guys think?

 

[Byron]

A male Betta should be on his own in the tank. It is not a community fish. This is a two-way street...some bettas become aggressive at fish in "their" space (and to the Betta the entire tank is his territory), but sometimes other otherwise peaceful fish find the Betta's fins too tempting. Admittedly this is not going to be the case with pygmy cories that have no teeth, but being a highly social fish that does like to swim/chum around with non-cory upper fish, it could still lead to trouble.

 

[juliejanu]

A male Betta should be on his own in the tank. It is not a community fish. This is a two-way street...some bettas become aggressive at fish in "their" space (and to the Betta the entire tank is his territory), but sometimes other otherwise peaceful fish find the Betta's fins too tempting. Admittedly this is not going to be the case with pygmy cories that have no teeth, but being a highly social fish that does like to swim/chum around with non-cory upper fish, it could still lead to trouble.

Oh ok! Would that also be the case with snails or shrimps? I wanted some algae eaters, but don't want to take any risks.

 

[Byron]

Oh ok! Would that also be the case with snails or shrimps? I wanted some algae eaters, but don't want to take any risks.

Snails and shrimp are your best for algae, at least common algae...problem algae is a different story. Some members have kept shrimp with a betta, they can best advise. I doubt the snails would have anything to fear from a betta.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Snails and shrimp are your best for algae, at least common algae...problem algae is a different story. Some members have kept shrimp with a betta, they can best advise. I doubt the snails would have anything to fear from a betta.

My Betta is chill with my cherry shrimp. He will occasionally chase them, but they can easily dart out of his way.

I recommend giving the shrimp plenty of plants, so they can hide. Mine love Java Moss and Anacharis.

 

[Essjay]

I had red cherry shrimp with three bettas. The first ignored both aduks and baby shrimps; the second ignored the adults but ate the babies; the third killed the shrimps.
Every betta is different.

But I always had a nerite snail in with my bettas, including the dragonscale which went blind. Some bettas bite the antennae of snails such as apple/mystery snails. Only one betta even noticed the nerite - he would flare at it when the snail was on the glass. Presumably it looked like a fish swimming in the water.

 

[juliejanu]

I'll probably try adding some cherry shrimps and hope it goes well. I do intend to buy a lot of plants so they will have hiding places. Thanks everyone for the advice!

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I'll probably try adding some cherry shrimps and hope it goes well. I do intend to buy a lot of plants so they will have hiding places. Thanks everyone for the advice!

Sounds good! Keep a close eye on the Betta for any aggression.

 

[Abaddon]

You can add amano shrimp (Caridina multidentata), they're much bigger than regular red cherries and less likely to be eaten. I have a few old females that are absolutely humongous, almost as big as my halfmoon betta. But with lots of plant cover and an intricate hardscape, even small shrimp should be OK. I have 2 bettas (one of which is a very aggressive giant) and they try to catch any shrimp that show up in their field of vision, but they usually manage to get away and hide among the plants until the betta gets bored and forgets them. Snails should be fine, although ramshorns and other snails which don't have an operculum can get pecked at or even eaten, if they're small enough. I've seen mystery snails lose their antennae to bettas Bottom line, you won't know until you try. In general though, the betta should always be the last animal added to the tank, that way it will be easier for him to get used to his tank mates & any potential aggression will be reduced.
For plants, I'd recommend moss, anubias, Java fern, floating plants (red root, water lettuce, salvinia, frogbit), bucephalandra, bolbitis, hornwort, guppy grass, water wisteria, pennywort, round pellia and marimo balls, if you want something funky looking XD